Tuesday, December 10, 2013

My Bicycle Helmet Mirror Shows the Path to Venus

The way is clear. Long ride ahead.

Venus brightens the December sky just after sunset. The alternate to using the helmet mirror as a portal to observing humans behaving badly, BOLO, is as an imagining device for inverting what's moving away behind you into a portal moving up and ahead. To the gorgeous evening sky, to the stars. I'm certain that more gear, and a significant supply of snacks and coffee, would be needed, but more than that: would I be mentally prepared for the journey? Could enough baggage be cast off to enable the trip? According to wolframalpha, the current distance is 35.66 million miles, or 3.2 light minutes. That means it would take me 271.39 years to ride there @ 15 mph, so, I'm looking more toward warp factors to lower that toward the 3.2 minute range. As Venus nears its closest approach to earth, this would appear to be the time to do it. The moment is right. The mirror makes it look so feasible. The deep blue sky is so inviting. Ride, dreamer, ride.

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Thriving on two wheels

I commute by bicycle in Phoenix, Arizona, a place suited for riding bicycles of all types, with weather, mountains, roads, canals, and paths to keep me forever spinning. My favorite bike tools are an open mind, anger control, curiosity, compassion, common ground, and the search for knowledge. With coffee.

Dedicated to the Lost and Bold

Arizona 3 foot law ARS §28-735. Overtaking bicycles; civil penalties A. When overtaking and passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction, a person driving a motor vehicle shall exercise due care by leaving a safe distance between the motor vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet until the motor vehicle is safely past the overtaken bicycle. B. If a person violates this section and the violation results in a collision causing: 1. Serious physical injury as defined in section 13-105 to another person, the violater is subject to a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars. 2. Death to another person, the violater is subject to a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars. C. Subsection B of this section does not apply to a bicyclist who is injured in a vehicular traffic lane when a designated bicycle lane or path is present and passable